Voting Underway for 2012 Male, Young Male and Disabled Athlete of the Year Awards

Fans Can Vote on U.S. Soccer’s Page on Facebook; U.S. Soccer Names Nominees for Prestigious Athlete of the Year Awards

MNTU-17 MNTNov 12, 2012

CHICAGO (Nov. 12, 2012) – U.S. Soccer has announced the opening of polls for the 2012 Male, Young Male and Disabled Athlete of the Year awards. Fans can vote for finalists in each of these three categories on U.S. Soccer’s Facebook page throughout the week. The winners will be announced Monday, Nov. 19. Voting for Female and Young Female Athletes of the Year will run from Nov. 26-30.

The U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year awards are the oldest and most prestigious awards of their kind, dating back to 1984 for the men and 1985 for the women, while the Young Male and Young Female awards were added in 1998. This is the first year U.S. Soccer will name a Disabled Athlete of the Year.

The list of Male Athlete of the Year finalists includes two previous winners: goalkeeper Tim Howard (2008) and forward Clint Dempsey (2007 and 2011). This is Michael Bradley’s fourth nomination for the award. The midfielder is also a former winner of the Young Male Athlete of the Year Award (2007). This is the first nomination for both forward Herculez Gomez and defender Fabian Johnson.

Forward Terrence Boyd, midfielder Joe Corona, defender Shaquell Moore, forward Rubio Rubin and midfielder Danny Williams all earn their first nominations for Young Male Athlete of the Year. Nominees must be age eligible for any of the Youth National Teams and can only win the award once in their career.

This is the first year for the U.S. Soccer Disabled Athlete of the Year award, which honors the achievement of disabled soccer players in the United States.

Online votes for the Athlete of the Year awards are equivalent to 50 percent of the total votes. As in years past, the other 50 percent will be represented by votes compiled from members of the national media and U.S. Soccer representatives (from National Team coaches to the National Board of Directors).